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I asked this question and it already had 4 Close votes as too broad.

I don't see how this question is too broad and I'm sure this question can be answered correctly (though I stand to be corrected).

But since this site is still in private beta and we are trying to decide which questions are on or off-topic. I'll like to know if this question is too broad and what i can do to narrow the scope.

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    I think that when this site is up and running, with lots of users and lots of activity, this would be a perfectly fine community wiki question. As the accepted answer to the questions shows, it is an unsolved problem, and it's not unheard of on the SE sites to have community wiki unsolved problems.
    – Steve D
    Oct 11, 2013 at 21:27

4 Answers 4

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I think this question is on-topic, provided you have added all the changes in the environment or dog in the preceding days or weeks.

You have explained one possible change, missing his meal.

Apart from that, a very reasonable question.

Perhaps difficult to answer if there are no obvious clues, for example neighbor activity.

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The way you worded this question puts the answerer in a position where it would be impossible to know without being there. It would kind of be similar to questions like "what kind of kitty litter am I using for my cats right now" or "what's my dog's favorite chew toy".

A question such as "what's my dog howling at" would be answered by going over to your house and observing your dog overnight.

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  • Yep, the sheer volume of possibilities makes that very hard to answer.
    – Joanne C
    Oct 11, 2013 at 18:51
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I don't quite understand this one myself (willing to be wrong here). It may very well turn out the at answer is that we simply do not know or that the theories are simply too numerous to elaborate any further — but I don't see how that makes the question itself is too broad.

Nobody in those comment threads seem to be asking for clarification or asking questions to help fill in the missing pieces. I can only conclude that the answer itself is simply too broad, and that nobody knows… but could go on to post some of the leading theories on the subject. If you need more information to narrow it down, ask for them in comments. But if there's nothing further to make this less "too broad", saying "we don't know, but…" is a perfectly fine answer to a legitimate question asked in good faith.

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    I suspect the "there are too many possible answers" part of the close reason is what is being applied here. As people mentioned in comments, there could be many, many reasons why her dog is howling at night, and I suspect that is why it is getting close votes/being put on hold.
    – user53
    Oct 11, 2013 at 19:03
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As I mentioned in my comments, I voted to close as too board because without more information, it is impossible for a reasonable person to answer this correctly because we'd only be guessing. We can't know why your dog is howling without knowing more information about your environment and without getting inside the head of your dog.

Now you did get an answer, and the answer sounds reasonable, but to quote part of that answer (emphasis mine):

So it can be response to some sound he hears. But we can only assume.

Ultimately that is the reason I voted to close. Any and all answers would only be guessing.

Now let's talk about improving, there is a slight situation here that can be discussed:

Your title:

What could make my dog howl a lot in the night?

The question in the body of the post

What could make him keep howling during the night and what can I do to stop this?

You seemed to take offense to the fact that I told you to ask about making the stop when you mentioned it in your post. The problem is the title. Everything in the post is about why. Remove the why, focus on the stopping and I'll vote to reopen.

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